Taking A Pelikan On The Road?

[caric]

I have a few fountain pens; a Lamy 2000, a Lamy CP1, and a Lamy Safari are the ones I use regularly. I also have a namiki vanishing point and a yellow pelikan m200. the 2000 is currently my favorite to write with.

 

I live in Phoenix. when it was hot last summer, I'd drive to work with the CP1 or the 2000, but when I got to work and pulled off the cap, I found the pens had pretty much exploded ink. it was a complete mess almost every time.

 

at this point I'd stopped using the vp and the pelikan m200 (I like the 2000's style of writing better than the vp and the m200 was too small and light for me).

 

I'm getting the bug to get a new pen. does anyone have experience with a large Pelikan, like an m600, in hot weather? currently, I've taken to leaving the safari at work, and the 2000 at home, so I have a pen in both places, but I tend to want to focus on one pen at a time. if a larger pelikan can handle the commute, I'd rather have one pen which I could carry with me at all times. what do you think?

 

(if it matters, my Lamys are all F or XF nibs; I'd probably want an F in the Pelikan)

 

thanks.

[nexp]

Was your drive in an air conditioned car? I've certainly never had one leak due to heat, and I've carried Pelicans all over DC in summer (not quite as hot as Phoenix, I'm sure). FWIW, the 600 isn't that much larger than the 400. 600 to 800 is a much larger jump. If the heat was causing the ink to expand too much, a piston filler like a pelican might be an answer...just don't fill it as much, and keep it upright.

[caric]

I've been doing some more research; I think my problem was not keeping the pen nib up while driving. My yellow M200 is inked up again for experimenting.

 

I'm going to have to go to the local pen store and try the 400, 600, and 800 on for size. The more I read about the larger pelikans, the more I want one...the m200 is writing better than I remembered

[myyrkezaan]

I've taken a Safari and a number of other pens to work and have never had that problem, not that it gets that hot in NC. They go in a Systemic notebook, in my backpack and on the front seat.

 

Hope nib up works for you, good luck .

[professionaldilettante]

I've taken a Safari and a number of other pens to work and have never had that problem, not that it gets that hot in NC. They go in a Systemic notebook, in my backpack and on the front seat.

 

Hope nib up works for you, good luck .

ditto. Nib up is the way to go. I've never had any problems. I also tend to keep the pens close to me, either where I'm comfortable in the summer, or under my coat in the winter, so they are fairly shealtered from extreme variations in their environment.

[lapis]

+1. It's gotta be the nib up. I always carry my M215 in my inner left breast pocket and my M320 under that in my T-shirt pocket. Always with nib up {A} because that's the right position for a non-explosion, and {B} I always keep them clipped in the pocket anyhow. Mind you, I haven't experienced a lot of heat above 104 °F lately.

 

Mike

[dcpritch]

... I think my problem was not keeping the pen nib up while driving.... I'm going to have to go to the local pen store and try the 400, 600, and 800 on for size. The more I read about the larger pelikans, the more I want one...

 

Nibs up! Just like "tips up" when skiing deep powder; anything else ends in disaster.

 

And to further your Pelikan search, here are two crummy iPhone pictures I posted in another thread relative to Pelikan sizes:

 

 

Left to right there are:

• Pelikan 100N, green marbled binde, flexible 14k BB nib (c. 1949 - 1954)
• Pelikan Souverän M400 Brown Tortoise, 14C M nib (1995)
• Pelikan Souverän M600, green striated, 18C B stub nib by Masuyama (c. 1993)
• Pelikan Souverän M605, blue with rhodium trim, two-tone 14C OBB nib (c. 2004)
• Pelikan Souverän M800, green striated, two-tone 18C OBB nib by Mottishaw (c. 2008)
• Pelikan Souverän M1000, green striated, two-tone 18C BB stub nib by Oxonian (2004)